RTI applicant in Bihar told to foot bill of Rs 78 lakh

Santosh Singh
When Gupteshwar Singh, a social activist from Agiyaw in Bihar’s Bhojpur district, filed a Right To Information (RTI) plea, he did not bargain for the price he would be told to pay — Rs 78,21,252.
On June 5, Singh filed an application (No. 4,461) seeking date-wise details of the distribution of foodgrains and kerosene under the Public Distribution System in Udvantnagar, Agiyaw, Tarai, Garhani, Sandesh and Sahar — all in Bhojpur district — between 2000 and 2008. He also sought photocopies of dealers’ payment receipts.
On July 18, Bhojpur supply officer Jawahar Prasad wrote to Singh that “all the desired information was ready with details”, but he would first have to deposit Rs 78,21,252 — the estimated cost of photocopying the documents. “If you do not turn up... by the said time (July 25), it would be understood that you do not need information at all,” Prasad wrote.
Applicants under the RTI Act must pay Rs 2 for each document that is photocopied. Singh said he had never asked for photocopies of all PDS documents of the last eight years, and Prasad was being “vindictive”. Prasad was not available for comment.